Multi-purpose hanging device adapted for anchoring on a mounting wall

ABSTRACT

A multi-purpose hanging device is adapted for anchoring on an upright mounting wall, and includes left and right holding frames and front and rear shanks. Each holding frame includes a base segment and front and rear arms extending from front and rear joined regions of the base segment. Left and right spacers are disposed on and extend rearwardly from the rear arms of the left and right holding frames, respectively. Each shank extends lengthwise to terminate at left and right joining ends that are detachably fitted to the front joined ends and the rear joined ends, respectively, so as to provide a relatively large hanging capacity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a hanging device for hanging householdobjects, more particularly to a multi-purpose hanging device adapted foranchoring on an upright mounting wall.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional hanging device 1 is shown to includetwo wall mounted bases 11 adapted to be mounted on an upright mountingwall 101, two spacers 12 disposed respectively on the wall mounted bases11, and a hanging bar 13 interconnecting the spacers 12. Such a hangingdevice 1 is merely used for hanging soft articles 102, such as towels,and has a relatively limited hanging capacity.

Referring to FIG. 2, another conventional hanging device 2 is shown toinclude two wall mounting units 21 adapted to be mounted on an uprightmounting wall 103, and two hanging bars 22 respectively interconnectingthe wall mounting units 21. Each of the wall mounting units 21 has acurved support tube 211 which extends to terminate at two fixed ends 212for mounting on the mounting wall 103. The curved support tube 211 hasfirst and second bent portions 213,214 such that the hanging bars 22 aresupported by the first bent portions 213 and the second bent portions214, respectively. Although such a hanging device 2 is provided with twohanging bars 22 to increase the hanging capacity thereof, the hangingbars 22 are arranged in a stepped configuration so that the hangingdevice 2 is used merely for hanging soft articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-purpose hangingdevice which can provide a relatively large hanging capacity and whichcan be used with a variety of containers.

According to this invention, the multi-purpose hanging device includesleft and right holding frames disposed to be spaced apart from eachother in a longitudinal direction. Each of the left and right holdingframes includes a base segment having front and rear joined regionsopposite to each other in a transverse direction, and front and reararms respectively extending from the front and rear joined regions. Thefront and rear arms of the left holding frame and the front and reararms of the right holding frame extend in the longitudinal direction andtowards each other, and respectively terminating at front and rearjoined ends.

Left and right spacers are respectively disposed on and extendrearwardly from the rear arms of the left and right holding frames, andrespectively terminate at left and right anchoring ends adapted foranchoring on an upright mounting wall.

Each of front and rear shanks extends lengthwise in the longitudinaldirection to terminate at left and right joining ends. The left andright joining ends of the front shank are configured to be detachablyfitted to the front joined ends of the front arms of the left and rightholding frames, respectively. The left and right joining ends of therear shank are configured to be detachably fitted to the rear joinedends of the rear arms of the left and right holding frames,respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment of the invention, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional hanging device;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another conventional hanging device;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment of amulti-purpose hanging device according to this invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the preferredembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment used forhanging towels;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment used forsuspending a variety of containers;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment used forsuspending a variety of racks; and

FIG. 9 is a partly sectional view of the preferred embodiment takenalong lines IX-IX of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 3, 5 and 7, the preferred embodiment of amulti-purpose hanging device according to the present invention isadapted for suspending a variety of containers 9. Each of the containers9 has a container wall 91 and an annular flange 92 extending radiallyand outwardly from an upper periphery of the container wall 91. Thehanging device is adapted to be mounted on a mounting wall 901 thatextends in an upright direction, and comprises a hanging frame unit 5,four couplers 6, and left and right wall mounted unit 4.

The hanging frame unit 5 includes left and right holding frames 51,53,left and right spacers 52, and front and rear shanks 54,55.

The left and right holding frames 51,53 are disposed to be spaced apartfrom each other in a longitudinal direction transverse to the uprightdirection. Each of the left and right holding frames 51,53 includes acurve-shaped base segment 511,531 having front and rear joined regions512,532 opposite to each other in a transverse direction transverse tothe upright and longitudinal directions, and front and rear arms513,514,533,534 which respectively extend from the front and rear joinedregions 512,532. The front and rear arms 513,514 and the front and reararms 533,534 extend in the longitudinal direction towards each other,and respectively terminate at front and rear joined ends 5131,5141 andfront and rear joined ends 5331,5341. The front and rear arms513,514,533,534 of each of the left and right holding frames 51,53 areparallel to each other in the longitudinal direction, and are integrallyformed with the base segment 511,531 such that each of the left andright holding frames 51,53 is formed as a one-single-piece construction.

The left and right spacers 52 are respectively disposed on and extendrearwardly from the rear arms 514,534, and respectively terminate atleft and right anchoring ends 521. As shown in FIG. 9, each of the leftand right anchoring ends 521 has a tapped bore 522.

Each of the front and rear shanks 54,55 extends lengthwise in thelongitudinal direction to terminate at left and right joining ends541,551. Each of the front and rear shanks 54,55 is tubular such thateach of the left and right joining ends 541,551 is configured as asocket-shaped end 541,551.

Each of the couplers 6 includes an insert stem 61 which extends in thelongitudinal direction from a respective one of the front and rearjoined ends 5131,5141,5331,5341 of the left and right holding frames51,53, and a tubular plug 62 which has an outer tubular surface 622 thatis configured to be press-fitted to the corresponding socket-shaped end541,551, and an inner tubular surface 621 that is configured to besleeved fittingly on the insert stem 61 so as to detachably connect thefront and rear shanks 54,55 to the left and right holding frames 51,53.Preferably, the insert stem 61 has a plurality of annular grooves 613 inan outer peripheral surface 612 thereof, and the tubular plug 62 has aplurality of annular protrusions 625 which are disposed on the innertubular surface 621, and which are matingly engaged with the annulargrooves 613, respectively, so as to reinforce connection between theinsert stem 61 and the tubular plug 62. Preferably, the tubular plug 62is made from a deformable material, and the inner tubular surface 621 isof a dimension slightly smaller than that of the insert stem 61 suchthat, when the insert stem 61 is inserted into the tubular plug 62, theinner tubular surface 621 is urged radially and outwardly to therebybring the outer tubular surface 622 into intimate engagement with thecorresponding socket-shaped end 541,551. In addition, the inner tubularsurface 621 has a gradually decreasing inner diameter, and the tubularplug 62 has a plurality of longitudinal guide ridges 629 forfacilitating insertion thereof into the corresponding socket-shaped end541,551.

During assembly of the hanging frame unit 5, the tubular plugs 62 arefirst sleeved on the insert stems 61 respectively to permit engagementof the annular protrusions 625 with the annular grooves 613.Subsequently, the socket-shaped ends 541,551 are respectively sleeved onthe tubular plugs 62 to complete assembly of the hanging frame unit 5.In the assembled state, the front and rear arms 51,53 and the front andrear shanks 54,55 are coplanar in a horizontal plane It is noted thatthe arrangement of the insert stems 61 and the tubular plugs 62 may bechanged, e.g., the insert stems 61 may extend from the left and rightjoining end 541,551 of the front and rear shanks 54,55, and the frontand rear joined ends 5131,5141,5331,5341 of the front and rear arms51,53 may be configured to be socket-shaped ends to permit insertion ofthe tubular plugs 62 thereinto.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 9, each of the left and right wall mountedunits 4 includes a cover 41, a positioning plate 45, and a fastener 44.

The cover 41 has a front wall 411 which has a central anchored region 42and a periphery 4111 surrounding a centerline (C) to that the centralanchored region 42 is normal, and a surrounding wall 413 which extendsfrom the periphery 4111 toward the mounting wall 901, which terminatesat a rear end edge 412, and which defines a mounting space 414. Thecentral anchored region 42 has a non-circular through bore 421 extendingthrough the front wall 411. Specifically, the through bore 421 has anon-circular enlarged head portion 422 and a through portion 425. Thus,each of the left and right anchoring ends 521 of the spacers 52 istapered, and is inserted into and is matingly engaged with the enlargedhead portion 422 of the corresponding through bore 421. A tighteningscrew 43 is disposed to extend through the through bore 421 and isthreadedly engaged with the tapped bore 522 so as to permit tightengagement between the cover 41 and the respective spacer 52.

The positioning plate 45 is adapted to be fastened to the mounting wall901 by means of screw fasteners 72, and has front and rear majorsurfaces 451,452, and a rim surface 453 which surrounds the centerline(C), which joins the front and rear major surfaces 451,452, and which isinclined toward the centerline (C) from the front major surface 451 tothe rear major surface 452. The positioning plate 45 is configured to bedetachably fitted into the mounting space 414 such that the rim surface453 confronts the surrounding wall 413 radially.

The fastener 44 is a screw bolt which is threadedly engaged with thesurrounding wall 413, and which has a tapered tip 441 that extends intothe mounting space 414 and that is movable radially between a securedposition, where the tapered tip 441 of the fastener 44 abuts against theinclined rim surface 453 so as to prevent the cover 41 from moving awayfrom the positioning plate 45 along the centerline (C), and a releasingposition, where the fastener 44 is disengaged from the rim surface 453to thereby permit the surrounding wall 413 to be removed from thepositioning plate 45.

In use, as shown in FIG. 6, the hanging device of this embodiment can beused for hanging soft articles, e.g., towels. In addition, as shown inFIG. 7, the hanging device can be used for suspending a variety ofcontainers 9, with the annular flanges 92 supported on the shanks 54,55and the container walls 91 extend downwardly through the horizontalplane 510. Also, referring to FIG. 8, the hanging device can be used forsuspending a variety of racks 9. As illustrated, since the front andrear arms 51,53 and the front and rear shanks 54,55 are coplanar in ahorizontal plane 510 when the hanging frame unit 5 is mounted on theupright mounting wall 901, a relatively large hanging capacity isprovided for hanging soft articles. In addition, the hanging deviceaccording to this invention can be used with a variety of containers andracks so that a variety of articles can be suspended thereon. Moreover,the hanging frame unit 5 and the wall mounted units 4 can be easilyassembled and disassembled, thereby resulting in compact package sizefor convenient transportation.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatis considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included withinthe spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalentarrangements.

1. A multi-purpose hanging device adapted for anchoring on a mounting wall which extends in an upright direction, said hanging device comprising: left and right holding frames disposed to be spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction transverse to the upright direction, each including, a base segment having front and rear joined regions opposite to each other in a transverse direction transverse to the upright and longitudinal directions, and front and rear arms which respectively extend from said front and rear joined regions, said front and rear arms of said left holding frame extending respectively towards said front and rear arms of said right holding frame in the longitudinal direction, and respectively terminating at front and rear joined ends, said front and rear arms of said right holding frame extending respectively to terminate at front and rear joined ends; left and right spacers which are respectively disposed on and which extend rearwardly from said rear arms of said left and right holding frames, and which respectively terminate at left and right anchoring ends, said left and right anchoring ends being respectively adapted for anchoring on the mounting wall; and front and rear shanks, each of which extends lengthwise in the longitudinal direction to terminate at left and right joining ends, said left and right joining ends of said front shank being configured to be detachably fitted to said front joined ends of said front arms of said left and right holding frames, respectively, said left and right joining ends of said rear shank being configured to be detachably fitted to said rear joined ends of said rear arms of said left and right holding frames, respectively.
 2. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 1, wherein one of said front joined end of said left holding frame and said left joining end of said front shank, one of said rear joined end of said left holding frame and said left joining end of said rear shank, one of said front joined end of said right holding frame and said right joining end of said front shank, and one of said rear joined end of said right holding frame and said right joining end of said rear shank are respectively configured to be socket-shaped ends, said hanging device further comprising four couplers, each including an insert stem which extends in the longitudinal direction from a respective one of the other one of said front joined end of said left holding frame and said left joining end of said front shank, the other one of said rear joined end of said left holding frame and said left joining end of said rear shank, the other one of said front joined end of said right holding frame and said right joining end of said front shank, and the other one of said rear joined end of said right holding frame and said right joining end of said rear shank, and a tubular plug which has an outer tubular surface that is configured to be press-fitted to a respective one of said socket-shaped ends, and an inner tubular surface that is configured to be sleeved fittingly on said insert stem so as to connect said front and rear shanks to said left and right holding frames.
 3. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 2, wherein said insert stem has a plurality of annular grooves, and said tubular plug has a plurality of annular protrusions which are disposed on said inner tubular surface, and which are matingly engaged with said annular grooves, respectively, so as to reinforce connection between said insert stem and said tubular plug.
 4. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 2, wherein said tubular plug is made from a deformable material, said inner tubular surface being of a dimension slightly smaller than that of said insert stem such that, when said insert stem is inserted into said tubular plug, said inner tubular surface is urged radially and outwardly to thereby bring said outer tubular surface into intimate engagement with the respective one of said socket-shaped ends.
 5. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 1, wherein said front and rear arms of each of said left and right holding frames are integrally formed with said base segment such that each of said left and right holding frames is formed as a one-single-piece construction.
 6. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 5, wherein said base segment is of a curved shape, and said front and rear arms are disposed parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction such that said front and rear arms and said front and rear shanks are coplanar in a horizontal plane.
 7. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 6, further comprising left and right wall mounting units, each including a cover having a front wall which has a central anchored region for anchoring of a respective one of said left and right anchoring ends, and a periphery surrounding a centerline to which said central anchored region is normal, and a surrounding wall which extends from said periphery toward the mounting wall, which terminates at a rear end edge, and which defines a mounting space, a positioning plate adapted to be fastened to the mounting wall, and having front and rear major surfaces, and a rim surface which surrounds the centerline, and which joins said front and rear major surfaces, said positioning plate being configured to be detachably fitted into said mounting space such that said rim surface confronts said surrounding wall radially, and a fastener configured to be threadedly engaged with said surrounding wall so as to be movable radially between a secured position, where said fastener is engaged with said rim surface so as to prevent said surrounding wall from moving away from said positioning plate along the centerline, and a releasing position, where said fastener is disengaged from said rim surface to thereby permit removal of said surrounding wall from said positioning plate.
 8. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 7, wherein said central anchored region has a non-circular through bore which extends through said front wall such that the respective one of said left and right anchoring end is non-rotatably and matingly engaged with said through bore, each of said left and right anchoring ends having a tapped bore, said hanging device further comprising a pair of tightening screws configured to be threadedly engageable with said tapped bores, respectively, so as to permit tight engagement between said cover and the respective one of said left and right spacers.
 9. The multi-purpose hanging device according to claim 7, wherein said rim surface is inclined toward the centerline from said front major surface to said rear major surface, said fastener being a screw bolt which is threadedly engaged with said surrounding wall and which has a tapered tip, said tapered tip being disposed to extend into said mounting space and abut against said rim surface so as to guard against removal of said cover from said positioning plate in the secured position. 